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Replies to: Best NROTC Programs?

If you are looking for an NROTC program that is close to a service academy experience (but not the real thing) check out the programs at VMI and The Citadel. You will be hard pressed to find other universities that provide the military environment and acceptance of ROTC offered by these fine institutions.

Texas A&M has a dynamic ROTC program. They house all the students in their own dorms...the different service brances sometimes even drill together and many report it's the closest thing to an Academy life a regular college can offer.

I have to put in a good word for both the MIT/Harvard/Tufts Unit and the Boston University/Boston College/Northeastern Unit ("The Boston Consortium"). A lot of people have the impression that this isn't a very friendly area for the military and ROTC, but I've had no negative experiences yet, and it's really cool to be part of a small, tightly knit unit, like the MIT one. Yes, ROTC is banned from Harvard, but it's actually kind of cool to be part of a very small group of motivated individuals who represent the military to the entire academic community here. Also, if you want to go nuke, MIT is the place to be; pretty much everyone gets selected for it, and the resources for technology are amazing. The BU/BC Unit, across the river from us, is a bigger unit, and it is a very professional one. It's bigger than our unit, and BU/BC/Northeastern are great schools. Boston is amazing for college, too. Send me a PM if you want more info on either unit!

Virginia Tech also has a Corps of Cadets that operate as a sort of separate unit within a large state u (i.e they stay in military only dorms, wear uniforms to class every day etc.)

Have to give a plug for my S's NROTC unit...North Carolina State University (largest state u. in NC, known for engineering, school of design, agriculture, has just about every major you could think of).
It is in the consortium with UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke but NCSU has by far the biggest(and most hardcore) unit.
Besides the regular ROTC midshipman,NCSU has a fair number of Marines in the MECEP program in the unit. They are active duty Marines who have returned to college to get a degree and return to the Marines as officers. They give the regular midshipmen a lot of leadership and insight/advice on real military world experience. From what S tells me they are very "motivating" in PT also.
I have never heard S say there was anything but respect for the kids in uniform on campus. There was even a large picture of S and two other midshipman lowering the flag printed in the school newspaper last spring.

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